Our Story

Discover the history of Freixenet, a family-owned business based in centuries of wine-making heritage; and our quest for celebrating life through our wines.

1911

1911 was a bumper year for Freixenet and the Spanish wine industry.

The marriage of Dolores Sala Vive (granddaughter of the founder of Casa Sala) and Pedro Ferrer-Bosch (of the La Freixeneda family) in Catalunya sparked the birth of the Freixenet story; and the newlyweds soon went into business together. Dolores' in-depth knowledge of winemaking, together with Pedro's vision and entrepreneurship, created the foundations of today's company.

But the new partners soon reached a stumbling block; as wine production was rapidly falling across Europe due to a deadly disease affecting grapevines. Looking for another route, sparkling wine produced in the Traditional Method proved an attractive alternative for the Ferrer-Boschs who quickly changed the direction of the business...

1914

Fast forward to 1914 and the booming company was trading under the name of Freixenet. Pedro grew up in a vineyard called La Freixeneda or 'Ash Tree Grove' in Catalan and, as a result, he was nicknamed 'el Freixenet'; the name they chose for the company. The couple built new cellars in response to growing demand for their rather wonderful sparkling wine, and enjoyed growing success in Spain and abroad over the next few years.

1930s

In the 1930s the couple took a first bold step to bringing cava to the world

When they opened an office in New Jersey. After all, as Pedro and Dolores said, celebration is something people all over the world and Freixenet should be part of: a truly remarkable vision for that era.

1940s

However the 1940s marked a turning point for Freixenet, as the terrible loss of Pedro and the couple's eldest son saw Dolores and her daughter Pilar take the lead. During her time at the helm she tutored her children in all aspects of the business until the time came for her 22 year old son José to start his career...

1970s

In the 1970s we launched our iconic Cordon Negro black frosted bottle that just seemed to catch everyone's eye.

1980s

Smart, snappy & charismatic

José had not only grown the company to become the world's leading producer of quality sparkling wine by the mid 1980s, but also changed the way the Spanish cava industry works forever.

José's tech-savvy innovations included driving the company to be the first in Spain to pneumatically press grapes and use refrigerated vats to control fermentation, to implementing biomass controls used in space technology which created one of the most important private yeast collections in the world.

José was also the brainbox behind Freixenet's ingenious marketing and advertising during this period; not only masterminding that iconic frosted black bottle, but also driving the brand to become one of the early adopters of TV advertising. Today, the Freixenet Christmas advert and the famous "burbujitas" a reproduction of the goldish bubbles embodied by women in costumes- is one of the most eagerly awaited events of the Spanish TV advertising calendar.

2000

200 million

By the year 2000, total production exceeded a whopping 200 million bottles, and accounted for over half of all Spanish sparkling wine production. With José now semi-retired , his son Pedro now leads the charge, and continues to realise the vision his grandparents had for the Freixenet brand all those years ago in Catalunya.

Today

Today, the fifth generation of the family runs the company. Still passionate about making the best possible sparkling wines, we're on a mission to help everyone celebrate life's special moments - no matter how big or small. So for the first time we looked beyond our home in Catalunya to create a very special sparkler... Freixenet Prosecco.

Made in the Veneto region of northern Italy, Freixenet Prosecco is the result of decades of family experience.

Our highly skilled winemaking team at Freixenet have used their extensive know-how to create a stylish and delicious fizz, that sits proudly with the rest of our range.

It's another bold step for a brand that's always dared to be different - and it's all part of our vision to be the world's number one choice for sparkling wine. That's why we own a number of wineries around the globe and why there's always a reason to choose Freixenet when you want to make an occasion extra special...

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